Hackaday Links: November 9, 2012

Yeah, it’s like Twitter but actually cool

Thingiverse – still the best place on the Internet to find cool 3D models to print out – has gone all Web 3.0 with their new Dashboard feature. Basically, you can think of this as Thingiverse’s version of Twitter. The dashboard allows you to see the latest updates from people you like, follow people, categories, and tags, and check out your all-important ‘who’s following me’ stats. Yes, to the Hackaday crowd it may sound a little lame, but it’s a great way to winnow the (awesome) wheat from the (slightly less awesome) chaff.

Hey, we goofed. And not by using the same image twice

Remember when we jumped on the Occupy Thingiverse bandwagon? Well, there were questions about the Thingiverse Terms of Service and confusion that Makerbot actually owns everything uploaded to Thingiverse. That’s completely wrong according to Makerbot’s lawyer [Rich McCarthy]. The whole issue dealt with “Moral Rights or attribution” – a French legal doctrine that isn’t part of US law (or the law of any English-derived legal system as far as we can tell). Yeah, we goofed.

Now u cn snd SMS msgs wit n ‘ino & cell sheld

[Meir] sent in a cellular library for microcontroller projects that allows for simple sending and receiving of SMS messages. Yes, it’s been done before, but [Meir] hid all the hardware interaction with the cellular shield – a good design practice – to make the code nice and tidy.

And you thought PVC was bad…

Just in time for Thanksgiving, [Lou] shows us the fastest way to make mashed potatoes: an oxygen and propane powered potato gun. The build uses oxy and propane tanks you can pick up for a few bucks at any hardware store, steel pipe for the barrel, a grill igniter, and a few pipe fittings. It’s awesome, and we’ve got to hand it to [Lou] for this one. Now to build one and test it out on our indestructible test dummy.

It’s just like the Raspberry Pi! They’re that backordered!

Remember the Stellaris Launchpad, the very cool (and very inexpensive) ARM dev board put out by TI? Yeah, they’re shipping now. News of this comes from [Ryan Holtz] at Autodesk after the FedEx guy came knocking a few days ago. The good news is they’re shipping, the bad news is the price increased slightly to $13.

Beneath the lawyers statement in the comments I asked them to clarify outstanding questions, which took precedence, CC licence selection of agreement with makerbot in terms of service. my post, and all others were deleted.

I have slowly come to the realisation that makerbot are sleasebags, and not to responsible enough to be the gatekeepers of a github type open source repository for 3D objects.

What is going to happen down the line once people start uploading objects that can only be printed on the (superior) Form1 printer. and come out in a mess of plastic string from a Replicator 2? or when a user finds his CC uploaded model design for sale in the makerbot store without attribution.

MediaGoblin has already incorporated 3D model support (as well as video/images). won’t take much to start a github style open alternative. There’s no rush though, it’s something I see as being bound to happen sooner later as issues arise.

While I have very little understanding of what’s going on with TV, IIRC English (and later, United States) law was very deeply rooted in common law. Thus the English felt justified in saying, to the sovereign ruler, ‘you can’t do that, it’s illegal’. OTOH, the French legal system was founded on the Curia Regis. Things have certainly changed since then, but the legal systems are somewhat different as a result.

As an adult I have come to the conclusion that guilty until proven innocent is alive and well in the USA. IMO a legal system that looks for evidence of innocence, removes the burden of the accused of a crime proving their innocence to an entity that has far more resources to prove guilt could be better for the accused. This at face value as I have no inclination to research how it works in France or if applies to civil matters

Wow! didn’t look that over very carefully before hitting send :( What I meant in the US innocent until proven guilty by the accused ends up as guilty until proven innocent, by the accused. A fist glance at a web search on the topic reveals what is characterized as”guilty until proven innocent” while originating in France has moved beyond France. In the event only half what is present here http://www.unjustjustice.org.au/the-solution.php is true, more promising than scarey.

Oxygen doesn’t liquify at the temperature/pressures found in an oxygen tank. They’re actually fairly low pressure(for a compressed gas tank,=<3kpsi) due to explosion risks when filling/transferring oxygen.

Moral rights are part of every international copyright treaty. As a result, any nation that has signed such a treaty is subject to them, regardless of whether or not they have themselves codified such a construct. So, in theory, moral rights are part of US IP law — and indeed, when you see the term “attribution” used in CC or other licenses, this is the moral right as codified in french IP law.

US IP law differs somewhat in that work-by-hire does not constitute moral rights (in other words, not every animator gets his name in the credits of a Disney movie, and the owner’s manual for a Ford Escalade doesn’t have the author’s name on it). But, that doesn’t apply here.

The US is required to recognize moral rights, but what is required and what is done are two different things, and legal requirements are ignored all the time. (Did you get arrested the last time you crossed the street without using a crosswalk?)

Okay gents, I am one of the guys that foams at the mouth and defends PVC air cannons…but hybrid cannons are scary! Real scary.

It’s just the knowledge that oxygen and propane freely mixing will self ignite makes me shudder. Do well and bring a certified welder on board for a project like that. They will know how to keep it safe.

I understand wgy there could be spontaneous comption if propane was introduced to a higher concentration of oxygen, if the A/F ratio became just right but I don’t understand the term freely mixing. I have torch kit that use propane, but I have never noticed anything that would suggest the mixture was igniting the to torch mixing chamber.

[sigh] When it coms to comments about makerbot/thingverse SOS* DD it seems. Not having access to a 3D printer it’s unlikey I’ll ever have anything to upload to thingverse, so at themoment I’m uncocerned about them. IMO if there are those who think there will be problem, should be creating alternatives now, rather tna waiting until there’s a problem to give the creators an alternative. Waiting reads like some are willing to let makerbot make the investment absorbing the costs while bellyaching about how to they conduct the business that allows them to take on that cost. Not that I’m saying thingverse isn’t beneficial to makerbot, no matter how they use the TOS. Speaking of TOS, is there any reason not to believe that the TOS will override any license attached to anything someone willingly uploads? I’m pretty sure it’s impossible for maker to close any open source hardware they have used. Yes they can can choose not to release any changes they added as open source, but the open source they used would still be available for others to use freely. In the event anyone can turn the open source into closed source, open source had a fatal flaw in the beginning. IMO both maker bot & open source hardware will survive independently. For makerbot there is a market to serve that wont be hung up on the history that lead to their creation. They just want the tool they want. There will always be those creators who aren’t hung up if someone will make money off their efforts.

* Here “S” can mean either shit or stuff. I can’t be responsible for how anyone reads it to take offense :(

On the spud gun I wonder how much pressure the check valve sees and if it’s rated for that kind of gas pressure. The worse failure is that it would become fragment grenade. the only other failure mode would almost be comical to see. The threads holding the cap on would strip sending the cap into air with flames following it. Along with the earmuffs a face shield couldn’t hurt.

I also got my Stellaris boards about a week ago. Unfortunately I started a new semester at uni, about a week ago, and I started on another nanowrimo novel, about a week ago. So, they will have to sit on my desk until Christmas break I think :(

Haven’t gotten mine yet, but I didn’t check the Educational box :( I am really excited after reading more about its development. Also, I am still one of those guys that likes to see TI still swinging with the rest of the big boys :)

Thingiverse is licensed garbage. Look at the name if you need more clues.